T-Bar Row with HandleMuscles Worked
The T-bar row works your upper back, driving your shoulder blades together through the rhomboids and mid traps, with your lats and biceps helping. Anchoring one end of the bar fixes its path, so you can load it heavily in a steadier position than a free barbell row.
PrimaryUpper Back
- Equipment
- Barbell
- Level
- Beginner
- Type
- Compound
- Force
- Pull
How to do it
- Wedge one end of a barbell into a landmine or corner, load the other end, and hook a close-grip V-handle under the bar near the plates.
- Straddle the bar with your feet wide, grab the handle, and stand up using your legs and hips.
- Push your hips back and lean forward with a flat back and your chest up, letting your arms hang straight.
- Row the handle toward your upper stomach by pulling your elbows back and squeezing your shoulder blades together.
- Pause briefly at the top, then lower the weight under control until your arms are straight.
Form tips
- Hold your torso angle steady, since standing up a little more on each rep turns it into a shrug.
- Pull smoothly without jerking the weight off the bottom.
- Smaller plates let the bar travel further before they reach your chest, which gives you a longer range.
Why it made the list
No. 4 of 12
Best Upper Back Exercises
Allows heavy loading in a more stable position than bent-over rows. Very popular in bodybuilding.
More upper back exercises
See it on your own body map
Log your T-Bar Row with Handle sets in KasMaker and watch your upper back, biceps, and lats fill in on the map, weighted by how much you did. Logging and the body map are free on iPhone.
